mostly cotton

by danny licht

you see the bulbs and miss the sun

you wake, you rise, you walk to school

your bag is full, you stroke your pen

then close your eyes and feel alive—

/

you know what twain has said of school,

in spite of it he learned,

you think and long for something more

you look but you are trapped—

/

how bleak it is to be in school!

to walk to school, to walk back home

to fill out forms: you’re better, you’re worse

to hear the teacher, to raise your hand

/

to find your seat and stay right there

to act alive, to be much less

how bleak it is to know this dread

as you walk to school, and mock your head